By now, most people are familiar with the Internet and the World Wide Web (Web). The Internet is a collection of interconnected communication networks that together span the globe. Information content on the Internet is presented via pages, each page comprising one or more files that are stored on a computer server that is coupled to the Internet. Each essentially an address on the Internet identifying the server and the particular file on that server that comprises that page. These pages are accessible to anyone with access to a computer coupled to the Internet and who knows (or at least can determine, for instance, via a search engine) the URL of the particular page of interest. Most pages on the Web are, not only directly accessible, but also accessible via hyperlinking from other pages on the Internet in accordance with a protocol termed hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a computer language generally used to describe how pages are organized, formatted, and linked together via the Internet. Other languages are known and are being developed also.
In HTTP, pages on the Web may be interconnected via hyperlinks. A hyperlink is a portion of one page, e.g., text or an image, that automatically addresses another page on the Web. By manipulating one's mouse to cause the screen pointer to move over the hyperlink and clicking the left mouse button, the page associated with that hyperlink is accessed via the Internet and is made to replace the previous page on one's computer screen.
Web browsers are computer programs using HTTP and HTML that enable one to access and view Web pages via direct addressing (typing the address of a Web page in an address field) and/or by hyperlinking as described above. Netscape Navigator™ and Microsoft Internet Explorer™ are the two most common Web browser software packages in use today. These Web browsers generally load and display a single page on the computer screen at any given time. When a Web browser links to that page, the browser software loads and displays that page, replacing any page that may have previously been displayed.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/561,862 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Three Dimensional Internet and Computer File Interface”, assigned to the same assignee as the present application and which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a web browser that provides an interface to the Web that displays multiple Web pages simultaneously in a display mode that emulates three or four dimensional space. The browser provides its user a Web surfing experience that emulates moving or navigating through a three or four dimensional space. While the method and apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned patent application is particularly adapted for use in connection with browsing the Internet, it can also readily be applied to interfacing with computer programs on which a user might wish to open and view multiple windows simultaneously.
In accordance with the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/561,862, a plurality of related Web pages are organized and presented for view on a computer screen in an apparent three or four dimensional relationship to each other, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, five Web pages, labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively, are displayed comprising center, top, bottom left, and right panels forming five inside faces of a cube. The sixth and last face of the cube can be considered to correspond to the view screen of the monitor (or alternately might be considered to be behind the user) and is not filled with a page. Accordingly, the operator of the computer has the impression that he is looking into the inside of a cube from one end of the cube.
Other Web browsers are known which allow the simultaneous display of multiple Web pages in other arrangements, e.g., a standard, two-dimensional, tile arrangement.
One of the common uses of the World Wide Web is shopping. That is, many retailers maintain Web sites comprising many pages on which goods that they offer for sale are displayed and described. The pages that comprise the retail Web site are hyperlinked to each other in a manner which facilitates locating a particular good that a Web surfing shopper might wish to purchase through the retail Web site. Retail Web sites also frequently include a page, commonly called a checkout or shopping cart page, used to commit to an actual purchase of goods from the retailer. In a typical checkout page, the user must enter various information such as name, address, shipping address, goods desired to purchase, and credit card number. Many Web sites include as part of the checkout page a virtual shopping cart. As the shopper selects goods for purchase, they are added to the shopper's virtual shopping cart on the checkout page.
In many Web sites, the goods desired for purchase are automatically entered into the shopping cart without displaying the checkout page once the shopper indicates (in the page on which the goods are displayed) an intent to purchase it. For instance, when a user locates a good that he or she wishes to purchase in one of the other pages comprising the Web site, the user might be able to automatically add the good to the shopping cart in the checkout page by double clicking on an appropriate display element in the page on which the good is displayed and/or described.
In order to determine what goods the shopper has added to the shopping cart, the shopper must call up and display the checkout page to view the list of items in the shopping cart. Shoppers frequently must check the checkout page during a shopping visit to a Web site because they cannot remember what items they have added to their shopping carts or the need to know other information about their purchases. For instance, even when a shopper can recall what items have been added to the shopping cart, shoppers often feel compelled to check the checkout page to make sure that the intended items were actually added to the shopping cart and/or to check the running cost total of the items in their shopping carts. Also, just as in a real shopping environment, virtual shoppers often place an item in their shopping carts and then decide that they do not want that item. Often the shopper finds a more desirable item of the same type later in the shopping session and wishes to replace the previous item with the later found item. Another common circumstance is when the shopper discovers the total cost of the selected items and must delete one or more in order to stay within his or her budget. Even further, shoppers simply may change their minds before making a final purchase decision. Each of these circumstances requires another visit to the checkout page in order to take the desired action.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved Web browser that facilitates virtual shopping.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a Web browser that allows a user to view multiple Web pages simultaneously.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a Web browser that allows a user to view multiple Web pages simultaneously to navigate through a Web site while maintaining a certain Web page in a certain panel of the display.